Car feeder



Patented Oct. 20, 1925.

- UNITED STATES ROY s. SHABPNACK, or BILL-men., PENNSYLVANIA.'

CAR FEEDER.

Application led June 21, 1924. lSerial No. 721,490.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that 1, Rev S. SHARPNAGK, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Dilliner, in the county of Greene and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful lmprovement in Car Feeders;and l do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescriptionthereof.

My invention relates to car feeders, and

particularly to means yfor positively controlling movement of cars pasta point of loading such as a coal tipple.

My invention has Jfor its object `the provision of means, whereby carsor other vehicles may be advanced past a loading station, while at thesame time provision is made to insure that the car will not advancefarther than desired.

One form which my invention may take is shown in the accompanyingdrawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a view showing one manner in which myinvention may be employed in connection with the loadingof cars at atipple; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary View of a portion of the apparatus ofFig.

1, on an enlarged scale; and Fig. 3 is `a view, on an enlarged scale, ofa portion of the operating mechanism. y

1n order to clearly vdescribe my invention I have shown an open-top car4 that is to be moved to the right along railroad tracks 5, beneath achute 6 of a coal tipple 7. According to the usual practice, the track 5is inclined slightly so that under favorable conditions the car willadvance to the right under the action of gravity, upon release of thebrakes, not shown, the brakes being intermittently released as the caris being loaded so that the load is distributed throughout the length ofthe car.

However, at times the cars will not move readily, owing to the presenceof loose coal on the track, or faulty lubrication, in which case it hasbeen customary to advance the car with pinch bars. Whether the car iscaused to advance simply by releasing the brakes or by pinch bars, thereis always danger of it advancing a too 'great distance before the brakescan be applied.

My invention comprises means for effectively controlling the movement ofthe car by power means, which is under control of an operator, foradvancing the car, which same means serves also to retard the movementof the car Upon release of the motive force.

The apparatus comprises a bracketmember S bolted to an upright 9 of thetipple 7 and provided with bearings for a shaft'10 upon which shaft are'rigidly secured the worm gear 11 and a winding drum'12..

I mount a shaft 13 at right angles to the shaft 10. A wormf14, meshing`with'the gear wheel 11,'is secured'to the shaft'13 and a crank 15 isprovided for rotating the shafts 13 and 10.. Instead of the'crank 15 Imay provi-de a motor for rotating the shaft 13 under control of theoperator or load trimmer who stands on-the platform Beneath the drum 12I mount a pair of sheaves 17, only one of which is .shown in thedrawing. The sheave 17 isisupported by a bracket 18 that is in turnyieldingly supported upon an upright 9 by a bolt 1'9 and a spring 20which is interposed between the upright 9 and the fixed washer 21 on thebolt 19. At a point remote from the tipple 7 I provide an anchoring post22 through which extends a swivel bolt 23 that is provided at its outeryend with a lined washer 24 that serves as a seat for one end of a spring25, the other end of `which. seats against the post 22. A sheave orpulley 26 'is pivotally supported by' thebolt A. cable 27 iswound aroundthe drum 12 a plurality of times from opposite sides thereof, so that asthe drum is rotated the amount of cable wound thereon will be equal tothe amount paid out. Each of the reversely wound portions of the cablemay pass around the guiding sheaves 17 and around the end sheave 26.

To each side of the pulley 26 I mount one or more loosely supportedcouplings 27a, each of which comprises a hook supported by links from achain link 28, the chain link 28-being connected through links 29 andpins 30 to a sleeve 31 that `is in turn connected to the cable 27 by ahook bolt 32 and a spring 33 seated between the one end of the sleeveand a washer 34 on the inner end of the hook bolt 32.

1n Fig. 1 a car is shown in loading position and connected to one of thehooks 27 a, while theI other hook 27il is in position to be connected toan empty car, not shown. The car 4 is advanced by means of the wormdrive 'i4- 11, upon rotation of the crank 15 in the proper direction.Should the car tend to move without the application of .any torce to thehandle i5, such movement willbe retarded by reason oil the fact that theWorm drive will act as a brake. Thus the movement of the car can bedefinitely controlled regardless of whether it moves under its ownmomentum or requires the application of power.

Vhen the car 4 has been advanced completely beneath the chute .6, thecoupling 27u is disengaged therefrom and the other coupling 27L isconnected to an empty car, .whereupon the crank 15 is` turned in thereverse direct-ion, to advance lthe second named 4coupling 27a with thecar. During `thisadvance movement, that coupling 27a` which has jfustbeendisengaged from the car 4 isof leourse `caused tobe retracted to a.po-

sition 'for engagement with another empty It will be Sleen thatthe cable27 is substantially continuous, -rbeing' interrupted .only by theinsertion of the couplings 27, but it `willbe understood that it may bedivided and its ends oppositely wound upon the drum 12..

By my invention I provide ameanswheren bythe car is definitely undercontrol of the ,operator or load trimmer, and he need not leave hisstation to either operate the brakes of the car or ,to use a pinch baror other `means to .advance it. Further, no delay is encountered throughycall of assistance to .move .a car vwhich tai-ls `to advance uponreleas'e .of the brakes.

,It vwill be understood that but a single coupling '27a is required, Aorthat more than two ycouplings may .be employed. The placi-ngratcouplings at `each side of fthe sheave v2.6l results in asaving oftime to the operator, as during advancement of one car the other(-:ouplingismoving rearwardly lin position to advance another car.Further it is not essential that the cable be wound around the drum aplurality of times, if means be provided Jfor preventing slippingthereof. Y

Various modifications in detail and gen eral arrangement may be madewithout departingl from the spirit and scope of the invention as denedin the accompanying cl-aims.

I claim as my invention :V Y v 1. Car feeding apparatus comprising awinding drum, a cable having portions thereof reversely wound o-n saiddrum, a iixedly mounted sheave arou-nd which the cable passes, acoupling member secured to said cable intermediate the said drum andsheave, and a worm drive for said-drum, to serve both as an advancingand as arretarding device.

2. Car feeding apparatus comprising a supporting' bracket adapted to bemounted above aI track along which cars are to be moved, .a winding`drum mounted on said support, a. guiding sheave disposed at a pointbeneath said support, a` guiding s heave horizontally removed from saidi'irst-named slieave and adjacent to the track along which -cars are tobe moved, a `cable extending around said sheaves and reversely Wound onsaid drum, a coupling member secured to said cable at ya point betweensaid sheaves, and a worm drive for said drum, servi-ng both as anadvancing and a retard-V ing` medium for .oars being moved.

In testimony whereof I, the said ROY S. SiaARrNAcK, have hereunto set myhand. yROY S. SHARPNACK.

